No.6 July 2007

FUTURE LGPS

CONSULTATION PAPER LAUNCHED

The Scottish government, COSLA and the trade unions have jointly launched a consultation paper on proposals for a new Local Government Pension Scheme in Scotland.

The paper sets out a range of proposals that reflect progress with the discussions through SLOGPAG to date. It is not an agreed final position and in some areas a range of options have been presented to stimulate debate.

Most of the key areas for discussion are those set out in Scottish Pensions Bulletin 5 and discussed in detail at the last pensions delegate meeting. They include ill health retirement, employee contributions, cost sharing and scheme governance.

The consultation paper can be viewed at and there will be a three month consultation period ending on 31 October 2007.

Next Steps

Branches should consult members on the proposals over the coming months. We will circulate additional materials to assist with this consultation including a PowerPoint presentation and briefing that can be used in branch newsletters etc. If branches are holding meetings then we will do our best to provide speakers.

As the consultation period now concludes at the end of October the next pensions delegate meeting will be held later than the planned date of 31 August 2007 to give branches more time to consult members. The next meeting will therefore be held on Friday 5 October 2007 at UNISON House.

For further details contact:

Dave Watson, Scottish Organiser (Policy)

or

Kenny MacLaren, Information Development Officer

Media Myths

UNISONScotlandis concerned about recent comments in the press regarding the new LGPS. There is a concern that certain people are still trying to peddle the CBI ‘myth’ about the public sector somehow ‘crowding out’ the private sector and damaging the economy. Once again no evidence is offered. That is because there is none. The public sector actually contributes to developing our economy in a number of ways – both direct and indirect. That is backed up both by research we have commissioned – Crowding Out or Adding Value?, by statements from the Fraser of Allander Institute, and by regular economic reviews showing a healthy Scottish economy.

UNISON Scotland Comments on Consultation

UNISON Scotland: Pensions Bulletin 6 – July2007Page 1

Unison has been involved in the tri-partite discussions on the new scheme and has welcomed the start of the consultation on the new Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme.

Mike Kirby, UNISON’s Scottish Convenor said;

“We welcome the progress so far and the fact that there are a number of improvements, but there still remains some areas of concern.

“We still want to discuss the way that increased contributions impact on members – particularly how to make the contributions more progressive, the position of people who need to retire for ill-health reasons, and especially the governance of the new scheme, and how its members can have a direct input into its running.

“UNISON will be running a number of consultation events over the summer and autumn to get the views of members and responding to the consultation

The LGPS is paid for by contributions from employees as well as contributions from employers, just like any private sector scheme. Indeed members continued to pay their contributions during the 80s when some employers (especially down South) took advantage of the boom and took a contributions holiday. However, in Scotland that was not so prevalent, and therefore the scheme continued to be sustainable and affordable. So is the proposed new scheme.

The new LGPS in Scotland, whilst there are some issues that still need to be ironed out, is both affordable and sustainable. It is overall, a fair way of returning to hard-working public service workers a small part of the money they are owed through their working lives.

UNISON Scotland: Pensions Bulletin 6 – July2007Page 1

Further Information

UNISONScotland Pensions

Hyman Robertson

Crowding Out

UNISON Scotland: Pensions Bulletin 6 – July2007Page 1